27 Best Hot Air Balloon Pictures Resources

Looking for hot air balloon pictures or clip art? I've collected 27 of the best resources you can find on the net, both for personal and professional use.

Unless otherwise noted, all of the listed resources offer images, graphics and clip art under the so-called "royalty free" license. This type of license typically allows the unlimited use of the image or any other content in the media defined in the license (e.g. websites, e-books, presentations).

Each licensing contract is different, so read the fine print before agreeing. Some may allow the resale of items that include the image content, such as a t-shirt or calendar, and others do not. Never allowed, however, is the reselling of the graphic itself, or to offer the free download of it.

Please note that the number of results under "Size of Selection" was accurate at the time of this writing (April 2016). When you read this page, the number has probably increased, as new pictures are uploaded daily to many of these hot air balloon pictures resources.

1) iStock

NOTE: This distinction between standard and extended (sometimes also called enhanced) license applies with minor differences to all of the image resources listed below that offer these two license types.

License Agreements: You can choose between two licenses, standard and extended. With a standard license, photos can be used for any personal, business or commercial purposes that aren't otherwise restricted by the license. Content can be used in advertising, marketing, apps, websites, social media, TV and film, presentations, newspapers, magazines and books, and product packaging, among hundreds of other uses.

An extended license can be used to utilize pictures in even more ways. This license is used if you intend to have 500,000 printed copies, on items for resale, if you intend to share the photo.

Download Options and Prices: There are two download options. The first one is to buy credits (minimum of 1 credit for $12 and a maximum of 300 credits for $2400). Credits never expire, and unused credits can rollover from month to month. The second option is through subscription. There are two subscription levels available: Essential subscription for 40$/month and signature subscription for 100$/month.

Recommendation: iStock contains a wide range of illustrations, vector files, graphics, clip art and high resolution images. It's a great resource for both personal and commercial purposes. Their pricing is not too expensive and unused credits never expire.

2) Pixabay

License
Agreements: All
images are free to copy, modify, distribute, and use even for
commercial purposes, without asking permission and without paying
attribution. However, depicted content may still be protected by
trademarks, publicity or privacy rights.

Download
Options and Prices: Create a free account to download pictures. All images are
public domain, that means you can download them for free, and you
don't need to give attribution.

Recommendation: Pixabay
is one of my personal favorites. All pictures are of high quality, as
they have to pass certain guidelines before they can be uploaded to
the site.

Download
Options and Prices: You
must subscribe in order to download images. There are three standard
license subscription accounts. With a basic account you get 5 images for 49$/year. A professional account costs 199$/month and allows you to download up to 750 images per month.

If you need a team account (more than 1 user), prices start at 299$/month. Images with enhanced licenses can be bought individually. Prices start at $199 for 2 images.

Recommendation: Shutterstock
contains a wide range of high resolution images that can be used for
personal or commercial purposes. Images are uploaded to Shutterstock
on a daily basis from all over the world providing a lot of
diversity. If you sign up for a free account, you'll receive one image and one vector graphic for free each week.

4) Photoshelter

License
Agreements: Contrary to most other resources listed here, Photoshelter offers a "rights managed" license. This kind of license allows the use of the graphic only for a single purpose which has to be specified when you buy the image, and the price depends on the defined usage (type of media, country, quantity, size of audience, languages, etc.).

Download
Options and Prices: You can purchase images individually, without having to create an account. Choose an image, then click "Buy or license this image" and select "rights-managed." A window opens up where you fill in the requested information, upon which the price is being calculated.

Alternatively, you can order the image as a print in various sizes, or different types of merchandise with the image on it, for example iPad covers, mugs, mouse pads, etc.

Recommendation: Photoshelter
has a huge selection of hot air balloon pictures and is easy to use. It comes with no subscription or
membership fees. The downside is that you can use the image only for one specific purpose and for a defined period of time.

Download
Options and Prices: Offers
pay-as-you-go in the form of credits, starting with 10 credits for $14. Monthly plans with up to 5 downloads per month for $25/month and daily plans with up to 25 downloads per day for 249
$/month.

Recommendation: Fotolia
is great because it offers different purchase methods so you can
choose which one suits you best. It contains a wide range of images
from photographers, artists, graphic designers and agencies all over
the world. Photos can be used for many purposes and you can contact
them if you want the image to be customized.

Recommendation: I like Bigstock because they offer a wide variety of purchase options. If you need a fair amount of hot air balloon pictures, you should go for one of their daily subscription plans. They offer better value than the monthly plans. As a first time user, you'll get a 14 day free trial that allows you to download up to 5 images per day. You can cancel your free trial at any time from withing your account.

Download
Options and Prices: You need to create a free account in order to purchase images. Prices start at about $45 for royalty-free images, for the lowest image resolution. For rights-managed licenses, prices get pretty high. For example, a 300 x 250 px image, used on your homepage for one month, sets you back over $800.

Recommendation: I didn't like that you have to register an account to even see the image prices. Their selection is pretty limited too. On the upside, they offer a free research service, where they help you find images that match
your needs.

7) Alamy

License
Agreements: Royalty-free and rights-managed. The license type is selected by the photographer
and can’t be changed.

Download
Options and Prices: The
price of an image depends on what license type you’re buying
and what you’re using the image for. When you click an image, you'll see all usage and price options. Prices start at $14.99 for personal use (personal prints, cards and gifts), and at $49 for a royalty-free license.

Recommendation: Quick
and easy website to use. No subscription or membership is needed to
purchase images. If you are not sure that the image
you select can be used for the purpose you have in mind, you can
contact them by live chat or phone.

8) GraphicStock

Download
Options and Prices: You can choose between their monthly subscription plan for $49/month or their heavily discounted annual subscription for $99. Both plans come with unlimited downloads. New customers get a 7-day free trial during which they can download up to 20 images per day.

Recommendation: I like the unlimited downloads, the 7-day free trial and the simple
subscription process. However, the selection of hot air balloon
images is rather limited with just 154 files.

10) Stockvault

License
Agreements: StockVault grants a non-exclusive, non-transferable license for each image
on their website. The images are free for personal and non-commercial
usage on the Web and in printed material.

Download
Options and Prices: Free

Recommendation: I've included StockVault in my list, because it's another source for free images. However, I doubt that the number of results for free hot air balloon pictures is correct. When you click through to page 2 of search results, you'll see all kinds of images, but no hot air balloons.

Use with caution! Be careful when you select pictures: both at the top and the bottom of search results they display paid images from Shutterstock.

Hot Air Balloon Image Example from StockVault

11) Dreamstime

License
Agreements: Dreamstime
offers two main types of license agreements: standard royalty-free
license for commercial usages and the editorial license. There may be
commercial usages not included in the standard RF agreement and for
which you need extended licenses. If you're unsure what license you
need, you can contact them.

Download
Options and Prices: 2 purchase options: Credit packages starting at $14.99 for 11 credits. They are valid for one year and perfect if you just want to download the occasional hot air balloon picture.

If you need more images on a consistent basis, you can choose from one of their monthly subscriptions
plans. Subscriptions start at 39$/month for 5 downloads.

Recommendation: Another
excellent site for both personal and commercial use. Images are of
high quality and can be used for a wide range of purposes.

12) Corbis Images

Download
Options and Prices: You
can download images without creating an account by simply clicking on
the image, adding it to the cart and paying for it. Customized
subscription packages are also available, but you need to contact
them to work out the pricing and terms.

Recommendation: Corbis
Images is a great and flexible website to find hot air balloon
pictures. Its specialty are the customized subscription packages. If
you know exactly what you need (how many images per month, and for
which purpose), you can negotiate the right package for you, and
avoid paying for something you don't really need.

13) 500 px

License
Agreements: There
are two types of standard royalty-free licenses (Web Ready, Print Ready) and a number of extended licenses, including one for resale.

Download
Options and Prices: You can pay for each download individually or purchase a photo bundle. Prices per image vary by license and whether it's part of the core or the prime collection. Web ready images are the cheapest and start at $34 per image. When you purchase photo bundles for $500 or $1000, you'll get a discount of 5% and 10% respectively.

Recommendation: 500
Px offers various options for downloading photos, including a
personalized subscription plan. It is great for personal and
commercial purposes including resale.

14) Stocksy

License
Agreements: Standard and extended licences, including a license for resale.

Download
Options and Prices: Photos can be bought individually. Prices are the same for all images in the collection. Each image
costs between $10 and $100 for the standard license, depending on
the image size. Extended licenses cost between $300 and $500.

Recommendation: I like Stocksy because you don't need an account or subscription to
download pictures. It's easy to use, and you don't need to
worry about the image price, as they all cost the same. Their selection is small, but they have some really unique hot air balloon pictures.

15) morgueFile

Search
Function: Easy to use, searchable by popular, recent, last downloaded and most downloads.

License
Agreements: License
is free for commercial purposes, to adapt the work and to use without
attributing the author. However,
you cannot sell, license, sub-license, rent, transfer or distribute
this image exactly as it is without alteration. You may not claim
ownership of this image in its original state.

Download
Options and Prices: Downloading
images is free, and you don't even need to create an account.

Recommendation: morgueFile
contains images for personal and commercial purposes free of charge. You don't need an account or subscription to download images. A great site to get high resolution hot air balloon pictures hassle free and for no cost.

Recommendation: An
excellent resource for personal and commercial purposes. The site
contains a huge selection of high quality images. The two pricing
options give you the choice between just downloading a few images
every now and again (“on demand”), or downloading up to 5 images
per day with the subscription plan.

17) Crestock

Download
Options and Prices: There
are three pricing methods available for download. You can buy images
individually without credits or subscriptions for as low as $1 per
image. Subscription packages start at 199 $/month and Credit Packages
at $10. To download images simply
add the images to your cart, go to checkout and you will be taken
through the purchase and download process.

Recommendation: Crestock
is highly recommended because it contains high-quality pictures that
are great for almost any use. I really like their pricing
flexibility from individual downloads to credit packages to
subscriptions. Something for every budget. And prices are pretty good
too, starting at just $1 for the smallest image size.

19) SmugMug

Search
Function: By keyword; you can refine results by camera make and model, date taken,
file format and orientation.

License
Agreements: Two
types of licenses: Commercial Use License and Personal Use License.
Personal use means you can use the photo on your website or for
making image prints for yourself, without any intention of making
money from it. The commercial license allows you to use the image for
advertising, brochures, books, merchandise, and other commercial
activities. You are not allowed to resell the image.

Download
Options and Prices: When you click
on a photo you like, you are presented with various options of how
you want your photo: as wall art, as paper prints, as keepsakes
(mugs, mouse pads and other items) or as a download. Downloading the
image costs between $10 and $50, depending on the image resolution
and size.

Recommendation: SmugMug
is for you if you are looking for prints or keepsakes with hot air
balloon art on them. It's not ideal if you just want to buy the
photo, as many photos don't have the download option.

20) StockSnap.io

License
Agreements: All
photos on StockSnap fall under the Creative Commons CC0 license. That
means you can copy, modify, and distribute any photo on the site,
even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission.

Download
Options and Prices: Free
to download. No account required.

Recommendation: Great
for personal use. There aren't many hot air balloon pictures (definitely not 199, as the number of search results indicates), but the ones available
are of high quality. No download fees, and no need to create an
account.

Download
Options and Prices: 3
Options: On demand download packages from 1 image for $10 to 50
images for $99; monthly subscriptions starting at 29$/month for 10
images and daily subscriptions starting at 5 images per day for a
cost of 69$/month.

Recommendation: DepositPhotos
contains a wide range of high resolution photos. They have several
plans so you can select the one that works best for you. If you are
interested in a custom solution you can contact them and they will
customize their plans to suit your needs.

22) CanStockPhoto

License
Agreements: There are several license types available. They include a
Standard License, “Multi-Seat License”, Editorial Use Only
License, “Unlimited Reproductions" Enhanced License.

Download
Options and Prices: Two pricing options: credits and subscriptions. Credits
start at 9$ for 15 credits. They can be redeemed for images and videos. Use as quickly or slowly as you want. Subscription
packages start at 39$/week for 10 downloads per day. This is the
best value for image hungry designers. Download up to a set number of
images every day, for as long you choose.

Recommendation: CanStockPhoto
Is great for commercial and personal use. It offers flexible pricing options
to meet the need and budget of each individual. Images are of high
quality and resolution.

Download
Options and Prices: Subscription
packages start at 99$/ month, where you can download images under the
Budget Royalty Free and Subscription license. For other licenses you
get charged an extra fee.

Recommendation: Master
File contains a wide range of stunning photos that are great for both
personal and commercial purposes. The pricing is reasonable and you can choose from various licenses to meet your
needs. What I don't like is that they set the language based on your
location, with no option to change it. So in my case (browsing from
Nicaragua), they show me their Spanish interface, and I cannot switch
to English.

Download
Options and Prices: Subscription plans start at 199$/ month with up to 250 downloads per week. You can
also buy a credit pack with 10 downloads for $99.

Recommendation: Superstock's
credit packs are rather pricey compared to their subscription plan.
Their subscription plans are a good option for professional use where you consistently
need a high number of images. Every file comes with a lifetime
royalty free license for multiple uses.

25) Compfight

Size
of Selection: 65,351 results if you search “all text” (not just tags) and for “creative commons license” (best search option as there are many non downloadable images under “all licenses”).

If you search for all licenses, and all text, you'll get a whopping 500,859 hot air balloon pictures!

Search
Function: Basic keyword search, with the option
to search by tags or all text, by license type and in safe search
mode.

License
Agreements: Many
images at Compfight come with a Creative Commons (CC) license. This
is one of several public copyright licenses that enable the free
distribution of an otherwise copyrighted work. A CC license is used
when an author wants to give people the right to share, use, and
build upon a work that they have created.

Download
Options and Price: Images
are free to download but you need to attribute the image owner and
the CC license in the specified format. No need to create an account.

Recommendation: Compfight
has the largest selection of creative commons photos among all the
resources listed here. Images are free to download and use as long as
you give credit to the author. Really easy to use as you don't even
need to create an account. The only downside is the rather basic
search function. You have do do a lot of browsing and scrolling to
find the right image for your purpose.

26) Adobe Stock

Download
Options and Price: You can choose between monthly and annual plans. Their cheapest subscription plan starts at $29.99/month for 10 downloads per month. Larger
organizations can get customized enterprise packages.

Recommendation: This
is a superb resource that contains high quality premium images. Nice perk: You'll get one month for free if you purchase their smallest annual plan. Their flexible pricing options cater
to the needs of both individuals and large organizations.

27) iCLIPART

Size of Selection: 528 Results “hot air balloon” when you search under clipart; 118 results when you search under photos.

Search Function: Searchable by keyword, color or b&w, and orientation.

License
Agreements: Standard royalty-free license. Commercial usage is permitted, but with certain restrictions. For example, you cannot produce more than 100,000 printed copies or 100 electronic copies. Neither can you use iCLIPART content on CafePress, Zazzle, or other print-on-demand sites.

Download
Options and Price: Subscription
plans start at $14.95/ week or $ 29.95/month. You can also order
images individually with prices starting at $ 4.95 for the smallest
size.

Recommendation: iCLIPART is a fabulous resource for hot air balloon clipart with
affordable subscription plans of varying lengths. Its selection of
hot air balloon photos is rather small though.